5 Facts You Need to Know About Keeping Your Tiles and Grout Clean

There’s nothing better than gleaming clean bathroom or kitchen tiles to welcome your family or guests into. Unfortunately, over time, achieving this kind of ‘clean’ in tiled areas becomes impossible, because grime, dirt and mould infiltrate the grout between tiles, producing an effect of the bathroom or kitchen still being dirty, no matter how much you clean. Tiles are a beautiful finish in rooms like the bathroom or kitchen, because they are even and stylish as well as easy to clean and maintain. However, the grout that holds them together is much more porous and rough, and tends to attract and trap dark mould and grime. Understanding how tiles get dirty and how to keep them clean is the vital information you need to keep your floors and splash backs sparkling.

A Professional Treatment Is The Gold Standard

As with carpets and upholstery, there’s simply no cleaning method better than a professional tile and grout cleaning to remove trapped in dirt, mould and grime. Professional tile and grout cleaners use natural ceramic and stone tile and grout cleaning products to bring new life back to your tiles, and they are also able to use professional sealants to seal the tiles and grout and prevent dirt settling in to the grout once again.

As well as deep cleaning the grout and tiles and removing stains, a professional cleaner can also recolour the grout in a variety of tones to match your specifications and needs, to give you that ‘brand new’ look once again. This cleaning and rejuvenating process prolongs the life of your tiled surfaces and really renews their look.

Regular Maintenance Helps

A professional clean will revive the look of your tiles, but regular maintenance is needed to uphold the clean and polished look. In fact, daily sweeping, mopping, or vacuuming is recommended to keep tiles and grout clean. This is because regular cleaning prevents dirt seeping into the grout and staying there and also helps deter the growth of mould.

Spills and dirt should not have a chance to ‘get comfortable’ in the grout and should be cleaned up as quickly as possible. Regular maintenance helps to maintain clean grout and prevent dirt setting in again.

Best Cleaning Techniques

There are many opinions as to the best cleaning techniques for tiles and grout. Many people may be inclined to use chlorine bleach to bring the dull colour out of the grout and bring the tiles and grout to a white colour.

Regular cleaning with water and vinegar is a non-toxic and effective way to clean tiles and grout on a day to day basis. To remove mould, oil of cloves is an effective and natural cleaner that gets to the root cause of the mould, and doesn’t bleach it. For temporarily brightening grout between professional cleans twice a year, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, combined with scrubbing can help lift out dark stains.

Most Common Issues

Dirty grout is one of the most common issues, as discussed above. While the tiles themselves are generally easy to keep clean, the grout does collect much more dirt and mould and isn’t as easy to get to with just the mop.

However some people may find their tiles are not easy to get clean either. If this is the case for you, it may be that some remnants of grout have been left on the surface of the tile and make it more difficult to clean. You or your tiler can buff this grout off for smoother and cleaner tiles.

When You Need To Replace Tiles

Of course it’s much cheaper and easier to get a thorough professional clean rather than replacing all your tiles and grout, but in some cases, replacing the tiles is necessary. If the tiles are cracked, broken or falling out, it’s a sure sign you need to replace those tiles, because not only are broken and
missing tiles unattractive, they can also harbour bacteria and mould and be dangerous or sharp. If the grout is starting to flake away it could be time to replace the tiles and/or grout as well.

With these tips and tricks you can keep your tiles and grout clean, sparkling and safe year round.

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Stephan and Marianne Vorster emigrated to Australia with their children from South Africa many years ago. Stephan has been in business in Brisbane for more than a decade and his customer service is next to none because of the level of care he brings to every situation.